Download This PaperGlitch as Narrator of Pandemic Citizenship in India
16 Pages Posted: 12 Dec 2022
Date Written: November 18, 2022
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic turned into a question of access to safety and security for millions worldwide. This study examines how the narratives of pandemic citizenship unfolded for India’s internal migrant workers who lost their livelihood and housing during the lockdown and were forced to return to their native villages. Using the framework of Legacy Russell’s glitch politics, this paper illustrates two instances of glitchy encounters that relayed migrant worker stories during the first national lockdown between March and June 2020. The first instance was the long walk home that became a collective act of refusal to be rendered invisible in the pandemic narratives. The second example was citizen journalism that used mainstream media as amplifiers of migrant worker voices. The main argument of the study is that glitches enabled seemingly marginal narratives to momentarily overcome structural inequalities and become powerful chroniclers of the pandemic.
Keywords: Citizenship, COVID-19, Glitch, India, Media, Migrant workers
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